Vim Fuego
Have you ever had the thought “What I really need to feel complete and fulfilled in my life is a free nine hour compilation of DIY and underground grindcore, mostly of Eastern European origin”? No? Me either.
Well, obviously Alexey Zavyalov, from Torn Flesh Records has had such a thought, because he undertook the task of assembling this monstrous compilation. Now, mega-compilations are quite easy to come by online, but the usual problem with them is that they are “unofficial”. That means the compiler has just pinched music from wherever they wanted, without permission or acknowledgement of the artist involved. Alexey has actually gone to the trouble of gaining permission for this one, so download away, guilt free!
Now, more than nine hours of free music sounds nice, but what is it actually like? Well, it doesn’t sound nice. It actually sounds pretty fucking nasty and brutal. Which is a good thing. First track on this 312 song marathon is “Bunka Bunka Blues”, from mincecore legends Agathocles. In a career now into its fourth decade, the Belgian three-piece prove their music has not evolved or developed one jot since they began in 1985. The sound quality is fucking terrible, with the drums in particular sounding like a pencil being tapped on a table. After all this time, it’s quite obvious Agathocles don’t really give a fuck about recording quality. They still do it for the fun of it.
And that’s what this whole compilation is all about. There are nearly 80 artists here, and it would be highly doubtful any of them make any financial gain whatsoever from playing music. It ain’t about the money. It’s about the glorious, guttural, gory, grindy grooves.
There’s a hell of a variety of different subgenres of grindcore on offer here. There’s near-death grinders, a good selection of porno-grind and gore-grind, a bit of cyber-grind, a bit of noise, and some experimental shit. A lot of these bands are pretty obscure, probably being put together in garages and bedrooms throughout the world, but grind fans will recognise a few of the names here, like Porky Vagina, Gorgonized Dorks, Shitnoise Bastards, and Straight Hate. Sound quality also varies a lot too, from crystal clear and professional sounding, to gargly old crap which sounds like it was recorded onto masking tape.
There are also covers spread liberally throughout the album, like Spinal Cord Ejaculation’s version of Anal Cunt’s “Radio Shit”, Porky Vagina’s reinterpretation of “Ace of Spades”, called “AIDS In Space”, Flesh Grinder’s creepy take on Obituary’s “Slowly We Rot”, the truly bizarre pornogrind cover of Nine Inch Nails “Hurt” by Anal Tetris, and NekRock unrecognisable cover of Dying Fetus’ “Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog”.
At more than nine hours long, there’s no way to sit through this entire compilation in one go without turning your brain to mush. It’s one of those collections where the best idea is to hit random play and let the ensuing chaos just wash over you. It also is not one for the uninitiated. If you’re new to grindcore, stick to Napalm Death or Carcass, because unless you’ve built up a grind tolerance, a lot of this will sound like aimless, pointless noise.
If this is your thing though, crank up the volume, crack open a beer, and toast Alexey Zavyalov for putting this all together.